Wow, that's very sad. Very sad. The first real basketball superstar, and one of MN's finest sports figures, for sure. One that us L.A. Laker fans can't really lay claim to, of course. I'm glad that he and the rest of the MN Lakers got their proper due (as Laker legends) a couple years ago here in L.A. while he was still around though.

I trust you guys heard that Shaq's paying for his funeral. That's very generous and nice of him. Even if Shaq is a whiny little pee-hole. At least he's capable of showing some respect to the man who paved the way for him, so kudos to Shaq for that.

That sounds like it's the case, actually. Perhaps they might've been able to barely afford it, but apparently neither he, nor his family, have much money at all anymore. Sad indeed. So Shaq pitching in to cover things is a huge relief for them, I'm sure, not to mention he'll probably get some fancier stuff in the process, which is nice.

Shaq may be a whiny brat nowadays, but I would never question his generosity. He's always been good about that, at least...

This makes me sick, and I've been very worried about him the last few years due to his weight gain. He was my childhood hero growing up, and I even named my dogs, two Chows after him. He's still my favorite baseball player ever and I can't believe he's gone. I had all of his cards from 1984 Fleer Update (which I'll always cherish as a gift from my dad) through 1996 when he officially retired. Then I quit collecting baseball cards because without him playing I lost the interest.